The production-version Nissan GT-R SpecV made its first official public appearance at some event called the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK, which ran from July 3rd to the 5th. Nissan’s Dubai office says that the GCC version of the GT-R SpecV will make its UAE debut in early 2010.
Most car enthusiasts know of the Mitsuoka Orochi, an organic “supercar” that started life as a concept car in 2001, and finally reaching production in late 2006. Built by Mitsuoka Motors in Japan, the final version turned out to be popular only for its styling, as it was powered by a basic 230 hp 3.3-litre Toyota V6. However, few know about the custom coach-building activities of the Japanese company. Mitsuoka is active in their home-country, rebuildling current-generation Japanese cars to resemble British vehicles of the 1950s and 1960s. And some of their creations are downright hokey.
The all-new 2009 Nissan 370Z will supposedly come to the UAE sometime this August, according to the company’s Dubai office. But while rumours persist that its launch could be delayed to 2010 in the GCC, the Brits already have a special edition, with the debut of the 370Z Yellow in the United Kingdom.
As pointed out by Akif, one of our readers, a real photo of the 2010 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado has been leaked onto the internet. The photo appears to be real, and has “internal use only” marked across it.
In an embarrassingly desperate move by struggling supercar-maker Aston Martin, the Kuwaiti-owned British company has developed a new luxury commuter concept, dubbed the Cygnet. Named after a baby swan, the mini-car directly bases itself on the Euro-spec Toyota iQ, but with a slant towards more luxury.
The previous version of the Honda Stream was briefly available in the UAE, offering minivan space in the body of a tall wagon, but it was cancelled a long time ago. The latest version of the Stream is going strong in Japan though, and Honda is offering a Mugen body kit for it, in true Honda-fanboy fashion.
Hyundai has released the first image of its mildly-facelifted 2010 Santa Fe in South Korea, ahead of the crossover 4×4’s Korean launch in July. The reworked 2010 model features some modest cosmetic changes.
Mugen, Honda’s official aftermarket arm, already has their own hyper-tuned version of the Japanese-market Honda Civic Type-R sedan. Interestingly, Europe has its own version of the Civic Type-R, based on the all-show-no-go 3-door Euro-Civic hatchback with non-independent rear suspension. The European Civic Type-R is imported to Japan in limited numbers, and this was enough reason for Mugen to offer a body kit for it.
The Indian-built Suzuki Alto has been around in the UAE for a while now, offering ultra-cheap “new” transportation to ultra-cheap people who refuse to simply buy a larger used car instead. For people with that screwy mentality, Suzuki is now offering the 2009 Celerio this summer, so they aren’t as embarrassed about their vanity-related mental deficiencies.
European tuning firm Lorinser is well-known for modifying Mercedes-Benz models for decades now. So it is a bit of a novelty to see them turn their attention to the decidedly-Japanese Lexus LS 460.